New hope to beat pain of arthritis

MILLIONS suffering from arthritis can beat it with regular exercise and early treatment, research reveals.

keeping active can vastly improve the lives of at least 10 million Britons who suffer from painful c

Physical activity can slash the risk of disability and ease the pain of a range of conditions including arthritis, back pain and brittle bone disease.

For some, the level of improvement increases with the number of exercise sessions, a review of scientific research found.

A second study also hails the benefits of aggressive, early treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

The chances of disability can be significantly reduced when drugs, which can halt the disease’s destructive process, are started soon after it begins.

Jane Tadman, a spokeswoman for Arthritis Research UK, said: “We know that exercise is one of the best things you can do if you have arthritis or a musculoskeletal complaint. People should keep moving as much as they can and exercise to the best of their ability.

“The current accepted way of treating rheumatoid arthritis is aggressive, early treatment to get the disease under control before the joints become damaged and deformed.

“A lot of researchers are now looking at the idea of personalised medicine where you can target a particular drug for a patient at a particular time.”

Inactivity is harmful to the tissues in and around the joints

Arthritis Research UK

According to research published in the journal Mayo Clinic Health Letter, drugs can prevent the immune system from attacking the joints. But the longer the disease persists, the less likely it will respond to treatment.

Experts at the National Resource Centre for Rehabilitation in Rheumatology in Norway found that exercise therapy for bone and muscle conditions had clear medical benefits.

They wrote in the journal BMC Medicine: “Exercise can decrease pain and improve physical functioning.

For the management of all musculoskeletal diseases included in the present overview, exercise therapy is unanimously recommended.”

The findings will bring hope that keeping active can vastly improve the lives of at least 10 million Britons who suffer from painful conditions.

The Norwegian researchers looked at scientific reviews across 224 trials and 24,059 patients. They found the effects of regular exercise were most important for knee osteoarthritis, lower back and shoulder pain by increasing bone mass density.

But for neck pain, hip osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, improvements were less significant.

According to Arthritis Research UK, exercise is vital to help minimise the destruction of joints.

It says: “Many people are afraid to exercise because they believe – mistakenly – that exercise causes further damage to their joints.

“But your body is designed to move and inactivity is harmful to the tissues in and around the joints. So to prolong the life of your joints, you should remain active.”

Exercises recommended by the charity include swimming, walking, cycling and fitness classes as well as stretching and strengthening exercises.

Stretching exercises are often very simple such as stretching your arms in the morning when you wake. People should move as far as they can until they feel a stretch in the muscles and hold it for five to 10 seconds before relaxing and repeating the movement. However, they must be done slowly and stop if they feel pain.

Pilates, a type of exercise that focuses on strengthening the muscles involved in improving posture and keeping the joints in the correct position, is also recommended